A/N: Sorry I took a while to put this chapter up, I just didn't have the heart to put in all the falling action here.
I hope you enjoy!
Horatio, Mac and their respective CSIs (c) CBS, Daikonran and Secondet (c) my sister
18, Internal
The DADE Memorial Hospital was just like any hospital; people either helping others or just coming in for medical assistance. Mac sat down over in the waiting area right after paging for Kino's suite. He sat besides an expecting mother and her husband, both cradling their unborn treasure. He simply replied with a smile and took a newspaper from the pile. Like the television, reporters ate up the sensational murder of Tamatha Henderson; drawing longwinded descriptions about details most people don't want to hear during breakfast. Sarcastic wit aside, Horatio had been careful about revealing Taylor's involvement to the media.
Holly Queens, Daikonran's nurse called out and allowed Mac into the examination room. Typical of the man's nature, there were various items that could fit well in either a doctor's office or a Halloween shop; lab cases were held together by a jar with a pickled rodent that Mac couldn't place, a stethoscope and a lab coat hung by a handmade coat hanger all the way from the Black Forest in Germany plus miscellaneous trinkets from Southeast Asia. The detective examined a vial that read Kappa Brains- for ill stomachs and laughed inside.
Forget Pepto-Bismol; eat a demonic duck.
Besides it was a large stack of books, subjects ranging between North American Indian spells, angelic hymns, a worn down anatomy book and, oddly enough, a child's picture book. He always remembered the doctor as being odd and contradicting by default, no one could tell what his mouth would spew out next.
If he says "Oogie Boogie" one more time, I'll clock him.
"All right let's get you checked so I can go back to my real patients over there." Daikonran entered, raven hair in a ponytail and white coat. Mac then underwent a normal check-up routine: heart pressure, ear, mouth and everything else in between. After fifteen minutes, Kino concluded and began the questioning.
"Have you been exposed to anything unpleasant to you? Holy water or anything that you haven't consented to?"
"No."
"Have you had any contact with anything other than human in the last twenty-four hours?"
"No."
Kino made a few notes and put away the file alongside the rest of his paperwork. He then closed the door, the windows and any other way information might leak out. "Now start from the first symptom."
Calleigh tried to make sense of what Horatio said but seeing him search furiously for any abandoned buildings in Orlando gave her a pretty good what was going on. Marla Ruez had been their first unnatural case and was the source of Caine's problems ranging from torture to surgically extracting an artificial wing off his back. Now they had a prostituting ring that involved the dearly departed Felicity Thompson and the late Tammy Henderson.
"There are a couple of abandoned buildings in the Orlando area fitting the description of what she'd be housing herself." He finally spoke, his voice now built up and tense.
"Where did you get that information?" Duquesne inquired.
"A source…you'll probably recognize him when you see him. But now we need to get to this building as soon as we can." A quick check on his watch and Horatio construed that Marla was already tucked in for the day, a perfect chance to catch her with minimal losses.
If his experience in Louisiana taught him and Calleigh anything was not to approach Marla head on. The failed SWAT team that Stetler had sent for Horatio had been decimated and there were still unidentified bodies to be located. The lieutenant wrote "Hospitals" on the subsequent search bar and clicked away.
"Calleigh, call Special Forces. Tell them we're executing a raid in…" The computer beeped with the results. "The Old Presbyterian Hospital near the Amtrak Railroad."
"Conveniently suspended due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. That woman loves misery, doesn't she?" she remarked as she dialed the agency.
"Misery loves company."
"Hello? Yes, This is Calleigh Duquesne from Miami-DADE police…"
Horatio then turned around and sprinted to the interrogation room. He needed all the help he could muster, especially considering whom the first line of defense was coming up against.
"Frank, Eric; are you both finished?"
The assault team lined the normally tourist-filled streets of Orlando. Some believed that this was nothing but a demonstration of military prowess by the state government. A Scandinavian vacationer sneered at the display as the vehicles crossed over to the more derelict areas of the attractions.
"So, why does a Miami team need to carry out a raid in Orlando?" Lieutenant Harriet McGraw chided rather unbecomingly over her cellphone. The fact that it was time for the weekly parade was an annoyance that she was willing to partake. But an unannounced raid on the same day? The day just kept getting better and better. A female voice with one hell of an accent calmly replied,
"Because a potentially dangerous criminal that escaped OUR Death Row and is in hiding in YOUR vicinity."
Cocky broad. Harriet had no patience that day, with three sexual harassment charges dispatched for no apparent reason. Her police units were all lined up at the location, awaiting the visiting forces for the next move. There weren't as many as a local raid due to belated bureaucracy and McGraw preferred it that way. She was one to always favor the underdog.
"Is the suspect armed?"
"No, but he may be at the location. There is also more than one volatile accomplice with him so bring out extra protection. We'll be there shortly."
The Miami-DADE Hummer arrived in a timely fashion to the abandoned sanitarium. Harriet's jaw nearly dropped, where the hell was the back up they said they had?! All she saw stepping out of the vehicle was a blonde woman, and three men; one Cuban-looking, another balding but looking older than some of her rookies, and a red-haired man who underneath those sunglasses looked like he meant business.
A/N: Reviews are welcome